Iron ladies confront the International Monetary Fund.

247 – In times of global crisis, it took two women to raise their voices against the International Monetary Fund. In Porto Alegre, President Dilma Rousseff said that Brazil does not agree with the IMF's imposition of certain restrictive policies on countries in crisis. "We will never accept, as participants in the IMF, that certain criteria imposed on us be imposed on other countries," she stated to the approximately one thousand people who participated in the signing ceremony of the adhesion pact of the Southern governors to the Brazil Without Poverty program, at the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul. The cry echoed in Paris, where another iron lady, the German Angela Merkel, also attacked the Fund. She protested against all those who call on Europe to adopt measures against the crisis, "but refuse to create a new tax on financial transactions," in a clear reference to the Fund. If this tax were created, according to Merkel, it would be possible to raise 57 billion euros as early as 2014.

Yesterday, in Curitiba, President Dilma had already said that Brazil knows what IMF supervision and the prohibition on investments are like. In Porto Alegre, Dilma recalled that during Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government, the country went from being a debtor to a creditor of the IMF. "Today we have resources invested in the Fund and we will possibly have a greater participation," she emphasized.

Dilma acknowledged that Brazil could also suffer the effects of the international crisis, due to reduced business in all regions of the world, but insisted on the argument that the country is well prepared to face the situation, given its US$352 billion in reserves and significant consumption potential. "Our main strength lies in the domestic market; our resilience is very high."

Brazil without Poverty

The president signed an agreement with the three governors of the Southern Region to participate in the Brazil Without Poverty Program. Dilma was accompanied by seven ministers, who also signed agreements with business and community entities for the purchase of products from family farming, training, and hiring of people living in poverty. The president had lunch at the Piratini Palace, the seat of the Rio Grande do Sul state government, and in the afternoon, she announced investments in the construction of a subway system in Porto Alegre.

While Dilma was participating in the ceremony at the Dante Barone auditorium, about one hundred demonstrators linked to unions representing bank employees and civil servants from the Justice, Health, and Postal services sectors were protesting in Marechal Deodoro Square, in front of the Legislative Assembly, demanding salary adjustments and negotiations with the state and federal governments.